MEC H D Yawa
17 May 2006
Honourable Speaker and Deputy Speaker,
Honourable Premier,
Colleagues in the Executive Council,
Members of the Provincial Legislature,
Honourable Mayors,
Members of Mayoral Committees,
Councillors,
Members of the House of Traditional Leaders, Dikgosi tsa rona,
Stakeholders and clients,
Members of the mass media,
Honoured guests,
Ladies and gentlemen
Madam Speaker,
The Department of Public Works joins millions of South Africans in saying
farewell to Minister Stella Sigcau who is being laid to rest today .We salute
Nkosazana Stella Sigcau as a courageous, remarkable leader and servant of our
people. Her contribution towards the transformation of the construction and
properties sectors has laid the foundation for an economy that benefits
all.
She championed rural development with commitment and passion and proved to
be a true friend of the poor working class and the rural masses. Her visionary
leadership, wisdom and guidance in the Public Works portfolio will be missed.
Hamba kakuhle Faku, Nyawuza, Thahla kandayeni, Hlamba ngobende, Dikili,
Matshobendlovu. Saku khumbula ntombi ka mandzonlwandle Nkosazana ya se
Qawukeni.
In the coming financial year my Department is set to go MAD. We want every
employee of the Department to go MAD as far as possible. Nobody should be
excluded in this drive to go MAD. This will include the junior, middle, senior
and executive management, as well as my Head of Department, and above all
me.
Before this house is alarmed by the vision that my Department will be filled
with insane people let me explain the meaning of MAD. MAD in our context stands
for: Make a Difference (MAD)
During the 2005/06 financial year this Departmentâs extended management
attended a strategic retreat to draft the three-year and five-year Strategic
Plan, and resolved to âDenounce Business As Usualâ. The Department was
successful in this approach and the attitude of the bulk of personnel has
changed in a very positive manner. The spin offs of this attitude change were
that even some of our procedures and processes were amended / refined to be in
line with the new spirit. What remains now is to merely do what we have planned
to do in the manner in which we have planned to do it.
The new focus on productivity, economy, effectiveness and efficiency must
now be used to make a positive difference in the lives of our clients. The
delivery by this Department must be of such quality and speed that no one can
miss to notice it. Our actions should speak louder than words. We have seen an
era of growth and consolidated efforts as a Department to do well, and our
performance in 2005/06 speaks for itself. Complaints about substandard
delivery, which used to be numerous when I took office, are now virtually
nonexistent. This Department had a very good innings at the recent Premierâs
Excellence Awards. We won the gold award for the best project team and the
silver award in the category for best department. We also won a silver award in
the Professional Management Review (PMR) awards for the most proactive
department category.
Madam Speaker, we are aware of a major pitfall in this regard, which is the
fact that we are doing okay at the moment. Jim Collins wrote in his book âGood
to Greatâ that âGood Is the Enemy of Greatâ. When you are complacent with your
current performance you will never find the way to greatness. Greatness
requires a hunger and resolve that is usually absent when things are going
alright. To improve from Good to Great requires an extensive growth pattern and
needs a number of prerequisites to be in place. The process can however only
start when one realises that good is just not good enough.
In this regard, I believe that the people of South Africa are entitled to
the very best and that good is simply not good enough, i.e. they should be
given Great service by all Departments in the Public Service. I am today
placing the Department of Public Works on the road from Good to Great. Some
time ago there was an advertisement on the radio and television that had a
punch line that said: âYou can stay as you are for the rest of your life, or
you can change to Mainstayâ. I want to say to public servants that you can stay
as you are for the rest of your life, or you could join the Department of
Public Works. The opposite is however also applicable to personnel in the
Department of Public Works, namely that if you are not prepared to walk this
road with me, you should resign or transfer somewhere else. We will have no
place for people who do not want to go MAD.
Madame Speaker, this journey will require courageous men and women at all
levels in the Department. It will require lateral thinking and innovation. This
will inevitably result in some mistakes and some allowance should be made by
management to allow honest mistakes. We will have to learn from these mistakes
and grow stronger. No child can learn to walk, or run, or ride a bike without
falling down a number of times. I do however believe that mistakes will be
limited due to the preparatory work that has been done in the Department.
The one thing that will not be tolerated is dishonesty in all its forms and
at all levels, be it fraud, theft, corruption, misappropriation, perjury,
lying, or whatever. Personnel will be expected to adhere to the Code of Good
Conduct at a minimum but are really required to exceed the requirements of the
code. We need personnel that are honest, of high integrity, and virtuous.
Benjamin Franklin said in The Busy Body: âI pronounce it as certain that there
was never yet a truly great man that was not at the same time truly
virtuousâ.
Madam Speaker, one could ask why we want to be better than good? It is
because we are very much aware of our role and responsibility to ensure the Age
of Hope. The people of South Africa have high hopes and expectations from their
government, and rightfully so. We have been given the noble obligation, through
the peopleâs contract, to become a winning nation and to be a winning nation
one needs to be the best there is. It is furthermore an answer to the directive
of the President of South Africa, and of the ruling party, the African National
Congress (ANC), his Excellency Mr Thabo Mbeki, in his 8 January 2006 speech
that we have to carry out the implementation of the Accelerated and Shared
Growth Initiative of South Africa (AsgiSA).
In his speech the President said that:
âWe must carry out all these tasks within the context and bearing in mind the
determination made by our 2005 2nd National General Council that âwe have now
entered a new phase of our national democratic revolution, (which has) created
a new set of opportunities and challenges for the cause of social
transformationâ
and âstrategically, and of direct relevance to our movement, this new phase of
the national democratic revolution consists in the imperative that we should
use our political power to accelerate the advance towards achieving the goal of
a better life for all.â
We as public servants are the ones who must implement this acceleration by
using the new set of opportunities. We should appreciate these opportunities as
a personal opportunity to make a contribution that will give meaning to our
lives. The following quotation says something about this principle:
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in âA Psalm of Lifeâ
So what remains to be done is a lot of hard work. I concur with Theodore
Roosevelt who said: âNo man needs sympathy because he has to work far and away
the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth
doingâ.
1. Achievements for 2005/06
Madam Speaker I am proud to report some achievements of note, over and above
the awards mentioned earlier, during the 2005/06 financial year.
First of all my Department received an unqualified audit report, for the
second year in a row, whilst we are not the only department to achieve this, it
must nevertheless be recognised that this is a somewhat more difficult
achievement in a Public Works department. We are involved in tenders and
contracts from small to very big on a daily basis. The construction and
property industries are notorious for the wheeling and dealing of opportunistic
rogues and consequently improper offers and temptations are rife. To come out
of this virtual minefield unscathed is a noteworthy achievement by any
standard.
For clarity, I will deal with these achievements on a programme to programme
basis as follows:
* Administration, which is made up of the office of the MEC and HoD support
staff and Corporate Support Services,
* Public Works, which comprises of the Buildings and Property Management
directorates. The Regional Operations fall under this programme for report
purposes,
* Community Based Programme, which is responsible for the co-ordination,
implementation and monitoring of EPWP projects for the province as a whole.
Madam Speaker, I will now deal with the achievements of each directorate as
follows:
1.1 Administration Programme
1.1.1 Financial Management
With the empowerment of the Regions by appointing Deputy Directors for
Financial Management, the Department has ensured that financial management and
expenditure accountability have filtered down to regional level. All levels of
financial management in the Department have been improved in line with the
following Departmental strategic objectives:
* prudent financial management,
* improved expenditure patterns,
* increased levels of financial control,
* development of procedure manuals and policies as per treasury
regulations,
* implementation of the public finance management act & treasury
regulations,
* improved debt management and revenue collection,
* reconciliation and optimisation of revenue collection,
* gradual change from the cash base accounting system to accrual accounting
system,
* ensuring that resources are utilised in the most economic manner according to
the provincial priorities and budget allocation,
* timeous reconciliation and clearance of suspense accounts,
* improved management of the departmental procurement committee,
* risk identification and internal control procedures and risk assessment.
The verification of the payroll by paymasters and certification thereof by
the accounting officer has been done on a monthly basis throughout the past
financial year. This will continue to be done in the ensuing financial
year.
The Department further performed a risk assessment, risk identification and
internal control procedures to strengthen its control environment. This
continues to assist in the prevention of unauthorised, irregular, fruitless
expenditure and losses emanating from criminal conduct.
The Departmental Budget Advisory Committee Meetings are held on a monthly
basis to ensure integrated corporate financial management and good
governance.
We will endeavour to continue to improve on the reconciliation of rental
income, i.e. Walker Financial System and Persal System monthly rental income
reconciliation. This will enable us to detect defaulters and reduce their
number as we continue to increase our revenue collection. The matters of
emphasis reported by the Auditor General have been attended to.
1.1.2 Supply Chain Management
The Department took over all functions related to the old Tender Board on 1
April 2005. Since then until end of December 2005 we issued 293 bid numbers
(DPW) for advertisement / close tenders.
During this period the Department advertised 150 bids 4264 bid documents
were sold. During opening of the different bids 2199 documents have been
received. We received 255 late bids, which could not be accepted and
considered. Out of the 2199 bids received, 34 women contractors were
successful. The total value of bids awarded was R500,780 m of which R95,149 m
(19%) was for women and R460,736 m (92%) for HDIs.
The Department introduced an Inventory Management System during the year to
ensure better control over all consumable stores. Due to the fact that all
purchases and payments are directly linked to the Inventory Register, no
consumables can be received unless it has been recorded.
The Asset Register for moveable assets has been updated with certain
parameters e.g. serial number, model, condition and custodian of the asset.
This is an improvement on the register and general management of movable
assets. According to National Treasury this province and Department is far more
advanced in this regard than any other province and even National.
1.1.3 Human Resource Management
The Performance Management Development System (PMDS) has been implemented fully
throughout the Department. This means that each official in the Department has
a personal work plan that is linked to the Operational Plan of her/his
Directorate. These Operational Plans of each Directorate is linked to the 3
year Strategic Plan of the Department. The drafting of all these plans were
very carefully executed to ensure that all activities in the Strategic Plan are
allocated to a Directorate and are included in the Operational Plan of that
Directorate. Likewise the activities in the Operational Plan are allocated to
an individual or team and are included in the personal work plan. In this way
we have ensured that nothing can fall through the cracks. This was a very
elaborate exercise and was managed by the personal supervision of the Executive
Management Committee who undertook road shows to each region and district to
oversee this process. The exercise was however worthwhile because the
performance of each official can now be measured against set and agreed
targets. This is in fact done on a quarterly basis. Deviations can be, and in
fact are, easily identified and corrective action can be taken in good
time.
The drafting and implementation of the PMDS had some other spin offs
namely:
* The lack of critical vacancies was accentuated. This gave cause to some
innovative and lateral thinking by management. The idea of Talent Management
was devised. This means that the existing people with scarce skills must be
nurtured and appreciated to their full market value. The recruitment of
additional people with such scarce skills should also be done with full
cognisance of the market forces in this regard.
* A Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) was developed for the Department. This is to
address the Development part of the PMDS.
1.1.4 Legal services
The Directorate has made significant progress with the finalisation of
regulations in terms of the North West Land Administration Act 4 of 2001, which
provide for the acquisition and disposal of land by the North West Provincial
Government, to be effective on date of publication in the Government
Gazette.
The importance of the aforesaid regulations is that procedures applicable to
the acquisition, exchange, disposal, and donation and letting of provincial
state land will be regulated.
The Department has dealt decisively with the management of discipline;, all
labour matters received during the financial year 2005/06 have been
finalised.
1.1.5 Information Management
The Department started a records disposal project that will bring it up to
speed with compliance with Records Management Legislation.
The Department succeeded in informing its clients and being visible
(internal and external) about its services by producing promotional material in
the form of posters, fliers, exhibition material, Ditiro Internal Newsletter
and departmental website. All these media products are assisting in creating a
Public Works brand/image. Public Works brand will allow our clients to
recognise, understand and clearly describe our services.
The Management Information Systems has contributed significantly to the
operationalisation of the Asset Register. The Rental Administration Application
is dully developed and in the final implementation stage. The Department has
successfully cabled District Offices at Molopo, Rustenburg, Mogwase, Taung,
Ganyesa and Mothibistadt. Employees at District offices will be able to work on
transversal systems as soon as Telkom installs data lines.
1.2 Public Works Programme (Infrastructure)
The design, documentation, and tender process for the two Secure Care
Centers, in Mafikeng and Klerksdorp, for the Department of Social Development
was finalised in record time by the innovative use of a selected tender
process. The construction of these highly specialised centres is on
schedule.
The two Traditional Offices in Mabeskraal/Tlhakong and Maboloka are being
constructed in a Community Based Public Works mode, which means that all
skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labour is sourced from the community. These
projects are pilot projects to test two modes of providing the managerial,
funding and logistic resources for the projects. The Mabeskraal/Tlhakong Tribal
Authority office was completed in February 2006, two months ahead of the
anticipated completion date. The Maboloka Tribal Authority office was completed
at the end of April 2006.
1.2.1 Buildings
Department of Health projects
Hospital revitalisation
The hospital revitalisation programme is being undertaken at the following
hospitals:
* Swartruggens Hospital. It was handed over to the client department on 20 June
2005. The quality of the structure of this hospital is of exceptional
standard.
* Moses Kotane Hospital. All four phases of the project are in progress as
follows:
1. Bulk earthworks were completed in February 2005.
2. Bulk water supply was completed in November 2005.
3. Staff housing foundations are complete with concrete floor slab.
4. The main hospital site was handed over on 23 July 2005.
Superstructure/brickwork is in progress.
* Vryburg Hospital. All three phases of the project are in progress as
follows:
1. Bulk earthworks, storage reservoir completed in October 2005.
2. Staff housing is at foundation level and 50% at ground floor level.
3. Main hospital â The contractor has been appointed and has established on
site and foundation excavations have started.
* Jubilee and Brits Hospitals. The scope for these hospitals has not been
finalised and consultative meetings with all stakeholders are still in progress
to ensure that an adequate structure is constructed for the communities.
Clinic Building Programme
This programme consists of 35 clinics. 10 out of the 35 have reached practical
completion. Contractors are currently attending to the finishing touches. 22
Clinics have been awarded and they are under construction and one of the 22
clinics, Itsoseng Clinic is in fact completed. Three clinics are under planning
stage to be constructed during the current financial year. Contractors for the
following projects were appointed during March and April Months 2006:
* Itsoseng Community Health Centre: sod turning was on 24 April 2006 and
construction has begun.
* extension of Bloemhof hospital
* extension to Mafikeng Nursing College
* Christiana doctors quarters: Site was handed over on 30 March 2006 and
construction has begun
* Disaneng Nursing is already under construction
The Klerksdorp Nurses College is at the planning stage. The project was
planned to commence by the end of May 2006 but due to the increased scope of
work the initial designed had to be revised. The project will therefore
commence by the end of June 2006.
Department Of Education projects
Out of the 13 projects of 2004/2005 programme that were given to the Department
of Public Works for construction, 10 projects were handed over to contractors
during July 2005. The roofs of seven out of the 10 projects handed over to
contractors have been completed, two projects out of the 10 have reached
practical completion and only the finishing touches are to be attended to
according to their program. The remaining one out the 10, which is Thea Morafe,
is behind by three months. The contractor was given 14 days to improve on 30
March 2006. The contractor failed to improve and the contract is being
terminated and a new contractor will be appointed to proceed with the
project.
Three projects led by the departmental team as Project Managers /Principal
Agents were handed over to the contractors in September 2005 and are also
progressing well ahead of their programme. One, that is Adam Masebe, has
reached practical completion and the other two Rakgotso and Ramabele are at
roof level.
Six projects for the 2006/07 programme have been allocated to my Department
on 9 September 2005. Consultants have been appointed and briefed on 28
September and 4 October 2005. Four tenders have been advertised on 30 January
2006 and contractors were appointed during the first week of April 2006. The
delay to appoint the contractors was due to non-CIDB registration by the
contractors. These schools are now under construction. The remaining two
tenders have been advertised on 21 February 2006 and contractors will be on
site by the end of May 2006. The construction period of these schools has been
reduced to nine months.
Department of Social Services
The Archive and Library project for the Department of Social Services was
advertised on 5 February 2006 and the initial closing date was 7 March 2006
which was eventually extended to 17 March 2006 to accommodate contractors who
allegedly claimed to have bought bid documents ten days later. The contractor
will be on site by the end of May 2006
Capex Projects for Public Works
Rustenburg Regional Office
The project has reached practical completion. This project was constructed by a
Joint Venture (JV) of emerging contractors and despite initial delays due to
problems between JV partners, the project was executed with due speed to good
quality.
Public Works Head Office
The Contractor has completed the Gate House and the boardroom. The Contractor
is currently busy with the partitioning of the North block. The Executive Block
is currently being roofed.
Design of Mini Garonaâs
The Department has identified a dire need for Government offices at Vryburg and
Rustenburg with the highest need in Vryburg. The designs of the two
Mini-Garonas are at an advanced stage. The original R85 m for new buildings has
been cut down by Treasury to R40 m. This was a unilateral decision by Treasury
and was not based on any underperformance on the part of my Department. This
has put the planning of the Mini-Garonas in disarray and an amount of R18 m has
been set aside for the implementation of Vryburg offices. This means that only
four to five months of expenditure is possible during the 2006/07 financial
year and the project will thus be started late in the year. No funds are
available to start the Rustenburg office in neither 2006/07 or in 2007/08. This
is based on the current MTEF figures.
Creation of workspace at Garona
A contractor has been appointed and the project is progressing well. The
movement of personnel in order to open up workspace that can be altered is very
problematic. This is the most difficult part of the project. An accommodation
committee has however now been established through the Office of the Premier
and this should assist in opening up areas that can be worked in. The actual
work is of good quality and the progress, once workspace has been obtained, is
excellent. Some delays were experienced with the procurement of the telephone
system and equipment. This has now been resolved and progress will
accelerate.
Upgrading and renovation projects
Upgrading and replacement of seven lifts at Garona Buildings have been
completed. One lift at Gaabomotho has been replaced.
Revamping of air-conditioning plant at Garona has been completed.
Upgrading of Mafikeng Airport Fire Hydrants, renovations of Mmabatho Civic
Centre, Taung Workshop, East Block of Old Parliament Building, Geosciences
Building, water proofing of Convention Centre and the waterproofing of Lowe
House number one have been completed.
Other renovation projects such as Ramosa Riekert, and Barnard Social
Security in the Southern Region are progressing well and they will be completed
during the current financial year. My department is unable to work with full
speed to renovate Tirelo Building due to inadequate space that can be given to
the contractor to work.
1.2.2 Property Management
Asset Register
Following the installation of the Asset Register on workstations during the
previous financial year, I am now happy to report that the Asset Register has
been loaded on the Provincial intranet and as a result can be accessed by all
who have access to the intranet Province wide. The system is very user-friendly
and requires just some very basic training, which my Department will provide on
request.
Disposal of redundant state-owned houses
The Department has previously reported that one of the challenges that slowed
down the process of disposing redundant state housing is the vesting of the
properties provincially. We are glad to report that we made a breakthrough when
we received vesting certificates from the Minister of Land Affairs confirming
vesting of 128 properties. This brought about the finalisation of the selling
of 73 houses netting the North West Province revenue of R8,544 m.
Office accommodation
The Department is committed to progressively reducing and eventually
eliminating the high cost of renting private office accommodation, thus the
roll out of the programme of erecting âMini Garonaâsâ throughout the
Province.
My Department is currently only leasing office space for the Central
Regional Office in Mafikeng. When the new Head Office complex at Old Parliament
Building is completed, the Regional Office will also relocate to Old Parliament
Building. The elimination of rental payments will bring about a huge saving to
the State.
Upgrading of security system at the MEC residences
As reported in the previous year the Department jointly with South Africa
Police Service (SAPS) Very Important Person (VIP) Protection Unit and National
Intelligence Agency has been engaged in the review and upgrading of security
system at residences of Honourable Members of the Executive Council (MECs). The
process has now been completed, and we are currently engaged in handing over to
the SAPS in order for them to manage the function further.
Lowe Complex
As the custodian of provincial properties we have stretched our hands to ensure
that Members of Parliament are residing at a healthy environment. The
Department has refurbished all houses in the complex and the upgrading of the
tennis court is at an advanced stage. Installation of kerbs along the tarred
road as well as upgrading of gardens, which includes planting of lawn and
shrubs, was done.
Using the Expanded Public Works Programme, paving of driveways and washing
bays were completed. In line with our commitment by the end of September 2005
Letsema âMabogo Dinkuâ project was launched and all staff members participated
in the process of cleaning the surroundings.
Landscaping and upgrading of Garona Building
In order to enhance physical and aesthetic environment of the main government
building at Garona, a tender for landscaping was awarded to a contractor with
effect from the first October 2005. This work will result in a prestigious park
that will contribute to the prominence and status of the centre of government
in the North West Province.
2. Challenges
Madam Speaker, my Department faces a number of complicated and demanding
challenges that I wish to report to the members of this important house. In
fact, I might say that the running of a Department of Public Works is a
challenge on its own because the problems that crop up on a daily basis are
virtually all unique and their solving require unique and uncharted
solutions.
The Department has encountered some difficulties in dealing with evictions
of illegal occupants of state houses due to the legal processes to be followed
and time frames to be adhered to as prescribed by the Prevention of Illegal
Eviction Act (PIE).
Another major challenge is the recruitment and retention of professionals in
the build environment, i.e. architects, quantity surveyors, and engineers. This
is being addressed by means of the talent management approach that I have
mentioned earlier.
Fronting during the procurement stage of projects is a continuous problem
and we remain vigilant to prevent this. The initiative, conspiring and plotting
of the culprits are however mind-boggling and they come up with new schemes at
an unbelievable pace.
The Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) has issued regulations
that require contractors to be registered with the CIDB when they do work for
government. The contractors in North West are very slow to register with the
CIDB. The reason for this is not clear because it is in their own interest to
register. Some opinions are that the registration cost is too high or that the
process is too complicated and the requirements for registration too difficult
to meet. This matter is however pursued through the North West Construction
Liaison Committee.
3. Amounts to be voted per programme
Madam Speaker, the Department has submitted the required three-year and
five-year Business Plans to Treasury and the Office of the Premier. These plans
are in line with the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy and have been
scrutinised and accepted by the Project Adjudication Team (better known as
PAT). I can state without any fear of contradiction that we know where we are
going and what needs to be done to get us there. The funds requested in this
budget will allow us to do exactly that.
The total amount to be voted is R465,293 m, split as follows:
3.1. Programme one, Administration â R86,055 m
These funds are required to provide the management and support services to
enable the core function of the Department to run smoothly.
3.2 Programme two, Public Works â R367,175 m
These funds are required for the core functions of the Department i.e.
Buildings and Property Management.
In Buildings the main portion of the funds, R304,175 m, will be utilised for
the day to day maintenance, preventative maintenance and renovations to
provincial buildings. R162,694 m will go towards salaries of supervisors and
workers of the Department. R141,481 m will go towards material, plant and
contractor payments.
The balance, R63 m, will go towards capital expenditure. This will be
utilised to finish the new Head Office of Public Works at Old Parliament
Building, the creation of workspace at Garona and the start of the Mini-Garona
in Vryburg.
I am repeating myself and my predecessors when I say to you, Madame Speaker,
that the funds available are totally insufficient for the gigantic needs for
maintenance and capital work. We cannot however keep on under-funding the
maintenance of our public infrastructure forever. This house will have to
consider a change in approach in this regard and I want to caution that the
time to do this is upon us. The day to day and emergency and breakdown
maintenance needs are increasing due to the continuous under-funding of
especially preventative maintenance. The problem is thus that we are forced to
spend more and more on the type of maintenance that gives little or no added
value. This situation can obviously not be sustained because we are currently
going backwards.
3.3 Programme three, Community Based Programme (EPWP) R12,063 m
The funds for the Community Based Programme will be utilised to improve
economic growth in disadvantaged areas by creating jobs and eradicating
poverty. To attain this, government is using infrastructure expenditure to
create employment opportunities. Poverty will be alleviated while at the same
time ensuring that local infrastructure is developed and maintained. Skills
development is a key factor of the programme and has the objective to free
people from the poverty trap. Beneficiaries will undergo training that will
equip them with the specific skills required to do the work on the project for
which they have been employed. These skills will allow them to be in the
running for future jobs with potential employers or to be self-employed.
4. Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP)
Madam Speaker, my Department has the mandate to be the lead Department for
EPWP in this province. In this regard the Head of Department chairs the
Provincial EPWP Steering Committee, which has participation at Head of
Department level from all participating departments.
My Department is also the project coordinator of two major EDI Cluster
projects. The first is Modimola EPWP project, which is nearing completion. The
Department trained contractors from scratch and these contractors are
completing their projects as I speak. We had the following contracts:
* two farm infrastructure contracts,
* five village road construction contracts,
* six road maintenance contracts,
* three route patrol contracts,
* one small bridge construction.
All work was done labour intensive and 491 job opportunities had been
created. All these beneficiaries were trained in various technical skills
depending on the jobs.
Thirty new farmers have been given theoretical training and they have now
started their practical training by doing vegetable farming and chicken farming
on the thirty farm plots that have been developed. All these plots are under
irrigation. These farmers will complete their learnerships and will obtain the
National Certificate: Mixed Farming Systems.
The lessons learned at Modimola are being replicated at Modimong. The
Modimong EPWP project was announced in the State of the Province address and in
fact the project was launched by the Premier during a memorable ceremony on 17
February 2006. In implementing this project in the Greater Taung area the
Department of Public Works would also be supporting the Accelerated and Shared
Growth Initiative for South Africa, commonly known as AsgiSA.
Two projects were therefore identified for immediate implementation,
namely:
* The implementation of a Household Food Security Project, or Letsema La
Mantsha-Tlala, in Modimong and surrounding villages to provide food security
for approximately 100 impoverished households. This project is presently in its
implementation phase, and several households have already benefited from this
intervention.
* The second project identified for immediate implementation was the labour
intensive road upgrading project of Road D210 between Taung and Modimong,
through Cokonyane, over a distance of approximately 19,6 km. This project is
being implemented in three phases as a result of the cash flow requirements of
such infrastructure projects. The first phase is presently under construction,
and should be completed before the end of the financial year. The other two
phases of the road upgrading project are presently being designed. It is
estimated that approximately 300 members of the community will be employed on
the road-upgrading project.
Projects that will be implemented shortly will be:
* the establishment and /or improvement of small stone crushing, sand digging
and brick making enterprises to service the needs of further projects and of
the community in future,
* the construction of community halls in both modimong and cokonyane, and
* the implementation of a land care or veldt improvement project at
modimong.
further projects that are being considered for implementation, subject to
the finalisation of feasibility studies and/or availability of sufficient funds
are:
* the upgrading of village roads to gravel standard in both modimong and
cokonyane through labour intensive methods,
* the expansion of the land care and food security projects to the cokonyane
community,
* the establishment of a suitable commercial agricultural product, which will
probably be based on olive production,
* the establishment of a peopleâs housing programme to provide housing for
appropriate members of the community in terms of the applicable housing
policies,
* the establishment of a game farm / echo tourism enterprise,
* the establishment of early childhood development centres,
* the establishment of vegetable gardens to support feeding schemes for the
early childhood development centres
* the performance of routine road maintenance activities.
The whole planning and implementation process includes extensive community
consultation and liaison, in order to ensure that community buy in and support
is achieved and maintained throughout the implementation of all the
projects.
It is also important to take cognisance of all other economic development
activities that are being considered and implemented in the area to ensure
coordinated development of the Greater Taung area and so also ensure the
success of AsgiSA.
Further achievements were the completion of the Socio-Economic baseline
study and needs assessment, including skills development needs, and the
completion of a geo-hydrological survey to determine groundwater potential.
This information has been used in the identification of further suitable
projects that can be implemented in the area.
Over and above these two major projects, the following achievements or
occurrences can further be reported:
An EPWP skills audit was done. It looked at individual departmental plans on
EPWP for the current financial year and the next financial year. The main aim
was to source information that will lead to better planning for skills
development through EPWP in North West for 2006/07 financial year.
The National Council of Provinces visited greater Taung and was shown two
grass-cutting projects, a paving project in the CBD and visited the Community
Health Worker in Taung.
Minister Stella Sigcauâs Media Roadshow was done in order to showcase to the
media a few projects in the North West. The following projects were identified
and were showcased:
* Molopo Store (Brick Making and Construction - infrastructure sector)
* Naledi Life Skills (Community Health Worker - social sector)
* Railway Block (Land Care - environmental sector)
* Modimola Integrated Project (infrastructure and environmental sector)
* Molopo Rehabilitation of Wetlands (Working for Water â environmental
sector)
Minister Mdladlanaâs visit to EPWP projects. The Department of Labour is the
main skills training provider for EPWP projects. The main reason for Minister
Mdladlanaâs visit to EPWP projects was to allow him and his delegation to see
for them the role that the Department of Labour plays in the skills transfer
and training. The delegation visited the Mmabatho Convention Centre Paving and
the Modimola Integrated Project.
Progress on the implementation of EPWP can be summarised as follows:
* By the end of the fourth quarter the North West Province had created 13 847
jobs of which 7 293 went to males and 6 554 went to females. The total number
of youth who benefited throughout the province is 5 715.,
* The social sector has created 4 452 jobs, the infrastructure sector has
created 8 725 jobs and the environmental sector has created 670 jobs.,
* Bojanala Region has created 5 242 jobs, Bophirima Region 2 788 jobs, Central
Region 3 080 jobs and Southern Region 2 737 jobs.,
* 38 Contractor learnerships are currently underway throughout the province as
part of the SMME development component of the Expanded Public Works
Programme.
PPC has made a contribution of R100 000 towards the training of emerging
contractors. This is a very welcome development and a good example for other
stakeholders in the Build environment to follow. 30 contractors have been
trained in five modules.
5. Conclusion
In conclusion, I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge publicly the
efforts and hard work by the personnel of my Department at all levels, from
management, supervisory, to operation. The âdenouncement of business as usualâ
was a major task and was only achieved due to the commitment and unrelenting
efforts by the whole team.
I do however want to make special mention of the role of the Head of
Department, or I should say the previous Head of Department, who drove this
initiative with clear focus, tireless energy, and steadfast example. Dr Lydia
Keneilwe Sebego is unfortunately no longer with my Department. In all fairness
I must say that it surprised no one when she was called for higher duty and she
is now the Superintendent General of the Department of Health. Her legacy
however remains in the Department and she will be remembered for her
exceptional strategic leadership and infectious drive. She left behind a
Department that has direction, order, and committed employees, and for this I
salute her.
Last but not least, I wish to thank my wife Linda, Nowethu u mama wa
bantwana, and my three children for their continued support.
Madam Speaker, as stated previously, I am convinced that the funds requested
in the 2006/07 budget for the Department of Public Works are in line with the
PGDS and these funds will be used to accelerate the level and standard of
delivery by the Department.
It is in this context that I request this august house to approve the budget
as submitted in order to allow this Department to meet the directives of the
President and to enable us to go MAD.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Public Works, North West Provincial
Government
17 May 2006
